It is common today for the generations of a family to live in different neighborhoods, cities, states, and even countries. Similarly, an increasing number of divorces as well as job-related travel requirements cause family members to be separated for varying periods of time. Although staying connected across distances is facilitated with the use of mobile phones and computers, there are practical limitations to the types of communications and interactions that family members can have using these devices. The devices require users to have a certain level of physical as well as mental dexterity. The family members that use them must be able to dial, type, talk, etc. As a result, older family members may have difficulty using them and very young family members may not be able to use them at all.
Furthermore, because of the complexity, overhead, and intrusiveness of the devices as well as the need for privacy associated with using the devices, and in some cases costs, many families limit their use of the devices to situations in which they need to communicate an important message or a long message. When two family members connect by phone or computer, they may engage in a series of communications and remain engaged for a longer period of time than expected. For very busy families, they may intentionally avoid initiating a communication with another family for fear of becoming occupied in ongoing communications longer than they intended. In other words, they may avoid simply saying “hello” to each other for fear that a longer sequence of communications will ensue. In other situations where privacy cannot be assured, family members may simply choose not to establish communication. As a result, communication devices that are capable of supporting and typically used for long and in-depth conversations are not used for simple, short communications such as saying “hello” or “I'm thinking of you.”
For a variety of reasons, family members that are separated from one another have or take few opportunities to simply say “hello” or “I'm thinking of you” to one another. There is a need for communication devices that support short and simple interactions between family members in different households. There is a need for communication devices that are easy to use, especially for very old and very young family members that may have difficulty using conventional communication devices such as telephones and computers. Finally, there is a need for communication devices that support ambient communications between family members in different households.